backyard stage!

Our most recent project was building a stage in the backyard. I always thought it would be fun to have our own little theater in the woods. I was inspired by the fun fairy woods and stage at the Annmarie Garden in Maryland, one of our favorite spots to visit before we moved. The kids have always loved putting on plays for us so this seemed like a fun project. Ben built the stage, with a little "help" from the kids, over the course of several Saturdays. Then he helped me hang a huge chandelier that I constructed out of a giant embroidery hoop and yards and yards of tulle. And it still hasn't fallen apart after several weeks and multiple storms! We still have a few more finishing touches to make to the stage and we also need to stain it. And of course Ben has grand plans to build a treehouse off one side.

The kids had fun performing "The Little Red Hen" as the inaugural production for the new theater in the woods. And they immediately filled the stage with all their "stuff."

 

diy side table + black walls

We had been looking for side tables and nightstands for a long time and I was always so frustrated with the high prices for such a small piece of furniture. I saw a tutorial online for these mid-century-inspired side tables and we decided to try making one. It's made out of a giant cake pan! (We spray painted the cake pan, stained the legs and top, and then assembled it.) It was easy to put together and now I'm just trying to decide where to put it. I kind of like it against our new black wall.

After painting a small section of wall black in our kitchen, I've been dying to try painting a whole wall black and finally did it in our piano room. (It's actually a really dark gray.) This room doesn't quite have a solid purpose yet and mostly just becomes a dumping ground for all kinds of random stuff. Some day we'll get furniture in there and get it put together. But I love the dark and light contrast.

bedroom makeover: stenciled wall

I didn't know if I would ever do a stenciled wall again after the honeycomb stencil I did in our last house (seen here). It took FOREVER. But the stencil was small and the wall was big. I decided to give it another try with a smaller wall in the girls' room and a much bigger stencil. It was still tedious, time-consuming work, but it went so much faster than last time. I think I finished in a week, working on it in several two and three hour sessions. I was listening to the Serial podcast at the time so that kept me entertained while I painted. It was actually some enjoyable quiet time for me while Ben kept the kids busy. First I had to paint all of the walls white and then bought several paint samples to find the right shades of coral. I decided to do two colors on the stencil and I'm so glad I did. The best part about a stenciled wall is how cheap it is. It only took 3 sample size containers of paint to do the whole wall.

Elsa stepped in and helped me when my hand got too tired.

After painting one Saturday evening, I came downstairs to find this massive fort the kids had built.

We decided it was time for the girls to sleep in twin size beds instead of the modified Ikea toddler bunk beds Ben made for them when Oliver was born (seen here). Twin beds would fit best in the room that Simon was in so we ended up switching all of the kids' rooms around. Oliver now sleeps on the bottom bunk in the girls' old room and Simon is still in his crib in Oliver's old room.

I had originally planned to do coral and gold but the girls really wanted blue so we went with some teal accents. I still have some things to hang on the walls and we're looking for a few more pieces of furniture to complete the room. The nightstand is an antique piece we picked up at a flea market in Arlington several years ago. It's been through a few different colors. The girls have loved having beds next to each other and have stayed up talking to each other more than they did in their bunk beds. Amelia is obsessed with making her bed. It was always too hard to do on the top bunk. The first thing she does when she gets up is make her bed. Elsa hasn't quite caught on yet. 

And what the room usually looks like.

dining room: before + after (phase 1)

I've always had grand plans to convert our formal dining room into an art room. A place to work on projects, do homework, play games, do art, etc. We already use it for all these things, but all of the art and craft supplies are very haphazardly stored in the closet under the stairs and not easily accessible. I ultimately want to create storage for all the crafting supplies in the dining room.

But for starters, I painted. Every single wall in our house was freshly painted an ugly beige color right before we moved in. And definitely not done by a professional. Or anyone that cared what it looked like. And not only that, they used FLAT paint. Flat paint on the walls! Not good. I struggled to find the right gray for the room but finally went with Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore. I really like it but part of me kind of wishes I had done something darker for a more dramatic look, especially with all the white wainscoting. But I wanted to keep it light since it's a project room. But who knows. Maybe it will be dark in the next set of photos.

Ben hung a new light fixture. I LOVE the new light and how much it has changed the look of the room.

We scored the gigantic table from the Crate and Barrel Outlet in Alexandria just a few days before we moved, knowing that we needed a big table for this room. (Can you believe that giant thing fit in the back of our minivan?) It's so nice to have a big work space. And the luxury to not have to put away in-progress projects and games to make room for dinner.

Before. Paint color decisions...

 And the after shots...